Online poker has emerged as the most successful and profitable initiative in the online gambling world. Millions log on every day to compete with players from around the world for impressive cash prizes. While the industry, as a whole, is largely popular, PokerStars has become a leader in its field, having ul recently reached an impressive milestone.
On Wednesday, September 22, PokerStars dealt its 50 billionth hand.
A month before the event, PokerStars launched a promotion that would award the player to whom was dealt the landmark hand with a generous cash prize. Thousands of players competed to be the lucky winner. At the time the 50 billionth hand was dealt, there were 220 000 players online at 33 000 poker tables.
The hand was dealt at the Ornamenta table, at which the winning player was awarded a massive $56 000 prize. The other five players were awarded up to $3000; the amount varied based on their number of loyalty points. As an added bonus, all six players were given entry into the WCOOP main event, worth over $5000 each.
The promotion has certainly helped to boost the online poker industry at large, as well. According to Poker Scout, PokerStars saw a 9% boost in traffic, contributing an additional 1.7% to the entire online poker market.
